Guided By Heroes Past
by BadRomComWrites
Summary: Hyrule has been with out a hero for so long that magic has faded. When darkness begins to creep into the land once again it is time for a new hero to arise. Only this time our hero isn't guided by a fairy, he's guided by the ghost of the first hero, who is kinda rude and totally not with the times at all. Rated for violence and language. read the authors note at the end of ch6
1. Chapter 1

_**This story is a fan fiction and I do not own anything in this story nor do I stand to gain any profit from this story. This is on a website called FANFICTION dotnet I shouldn't have to put this disclaimer in the first place because no one on here owns the characters in the story nor do they stand to gain profits from the stories they create, yet here we are. :)  
**_

* * *

 **Chapter One:** A Zillion Year Old Ghost Is Haunting Me Because We Have The Same Name

 _Once upon a time this land was blessed by courageous heroes and wise princesses that fought against the power hungry demon king. When darkness crept across the land, the princess would call upon her hero. One day, darkness crept across the land, but there was no princess to call upon a hero. Darkness had consumed her first, sneaking upon her and springing his trap. The princess lay slain at the feet of the demon king. The hero never awoken._

 _Years have passed. The demon king was replaced with a new ruler, the old bloodline faded away, and the heroes faded to mere legend. Magic has faded, as have belief in the goddesses, but darkness remains._

 _I feel him creeping, my old foe. This land is in danger again. It's time for a hero to awaken again._

* * *

Groggily Link looked up at the ceiling. He had fallen out of bed, the bump on his head from landing on the floor made him both wake up and feel even more tired.

"Liiiiink!" He heard his little sister call from the other side of the door. "Grandma says it's time to wake up for school."

With a groan Link sat up, rubbing his eyes. He looked over to his desk. He had a history project due today, he had spent all night working on it. His best friend was going to help him add the finishing touches to it in the library this morning and look it over to make sure he wasn't missing anything. He was quite proud of his poster depicting weapons of the first Hylian Civil War.

He threw his blankets off and headed to the door. His sister Aryll was headed to the bathroom. She was two years younger than him. He wasn't exactly happy to be spending his last year of middle school in the same building as his sister, but the three grades were separated into separate halls. For the most part she stayed in the 6th grade hall, and he stayed in the 8th. They had separate lunch times, his was first, then the 7th graders, and then hers. It was an unwritten rule, they went to school together, separated for the day completely ignoring each other unless he felt like being nice enough to warn her about what was for lunch that day, and then walked home together. He walked downstairs to pour himself a bowl of cereal. His grandmother was there reading a paper.

"Well look at you sleepy head." She smiled. "So any big plans for today?" Link yawned in response and sat down with a bowl of cereal. She chuckled. "Good luck with your project today." Link smiled and focused on his cereal.

"Liiiiiink." Aryll whinned. "You ate all the marshmallows again!" His little sister was holding a box of Lucky Charms, that only had the cereal. Link downed the rest of his cereal and dropped his bowl off in the sink, rushing upstairs to the bathroom. "Link! You do this all the time!" She continued to pester him while he brushed his teeth. "Link!"

"Farore please stop!" He pushed her out of the bathroom and slammed the door. He finished brushing his teeth and splashed cold water on his face, trying to wake up. He dried his face and looked up into the mirror. Staring back was a face other than his… They looked similar… But this face had bright yellow, almost greenish hair and tanned skin, as if he lived in a swimming pool, and black-green cat eyes. Link blinked several times. He was staring back at his face, messy blonde hair in desperate need of a comb and tired blue eyes. He was up too late working on his project. That was it.

"LINK!" Aryl pounded on the door, jolting him back to reality. "Hurry up! You're the one who wanted to go to school early!"

"Yeah yeah." Link threw his towel into the sink and returned to his room to change and grab his bag. "Come on twerp." He grabbed his key from the hook and stuffed it into his pocket, eager to get to school to meet with Zelda.

The two had known each other since kindergarten, but their friendship really took off when they were in 3rd grade. On the bus ride back from a trip to the zoo she had kissed him. It was like a jolt of electricity. She claimed she fell and "No I didn't kiss you you weirdo!" He knew he liked her, but he wasn't sure how to tell her. He didn't know if she felt the same way, and he would rather remain friends with her than take a chance of ruining everything.

Link arrived in the library, the poster sticking out of his bag. Oddly enough Zelda was nowhere to be found, she was usually sitting on the couches reading something… Passing it off as nothing Link plopped down and examined his poster one more time. Before he knew it the first bell rang, and Zelda was still missing. Confused Link took out his phone to check it, she'd have told him if she was missing school. There were no messages, but a library aid scolded him and told him to put his phone away. Hastily Link flipped it closed and stuffed it into his bag and hurried to his locker.

Zelda didn't show up at all that day.

While waiting for Aryl at the end of the day he decided to text her and see what was going on. No response. Link chewed on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. Normally she'd text him back right away, especially if she was sick.

"Hey! Wanna ask Grandma if we can go to the ice cream shop?" Aryl asked. Link nodded.

The next day Link was called down to the office to show around a new student. "Hi I'm Sheik, I just moved here from Kakarico." Sheik was rather soft spoken. His skin was dark, while his hair was just blonde enough to not be white and he had red eyes.

"I'm Link. If you see a girl with blonde hair and pigtails who's super annoying that's probably my sister." Link smiled. "Come on, I'll show you to the eight grade hall." Together the two climbed up the stairs. "Your eyes are really cool by the way." Sheik blinked and then smiled, revealing a set of silver braces.

"Thanks!"

"That's the library, I usually hang out there in the morning with my friend Zelda. The librarians are really picky about putting books back in their right places." He pointed down the hall. "All the way down there is the sixth grade hall, that's where your Goron language class will be. The teacher is from Death Mountain, his accent is really weird. He called me Lank." Link frowned at the memory.

"Which language do you take?" The middle school offered three basic languages, Korok, Goron, and Zoran. The high school offered three additional languages, Sheikahn, Gerudan, and Ancient Hylian. Link's ears turned red.

"Korok… It was Zelda's idea. Why are you taking Goron?" Link tried to change the subject.

It was Sheik's turn to turn red. "I, kinda know a lot already… like half the people in Kakarico speak it. My aunt wanted me to take Sheikahn but…" Link nodded.

"Come on, let's get back to homeroom."

Zelda didn't show up to school again that day. Nor did she come the day after, and she still wasn't answering her phone.

That night Link tossed and turned as different scenes flashed before him. The was a tall man on a horse, a room where it rained so hard it seemed like the ocean was crashing in, a talking green hat, someone urging him to wake up.

No that one was real.

"Wake up you lazy child!" Groggily Link rubbed the sleep from his eyes and sat up to turn the light on. Standing in his room was a see through man. Link yelped and hid under the covers. "No. Get out of bed!" The ghost ripped the blankets away. Link's eyes widened.

"You-you're…" He was shaking.

"Yes. I am dead. I am a ghost." The man rolled his eyes. "My name is Link."

"That's my name." Link cocked his head to the side, confused. It's not like his name was common…

"Yes. I know." The ghost Link seethed. His patience was running thin…

Link looked around the room. "Is uh… Is that why you're haunting my room?"

"I am not haunting your room!" The ghost smacked his forehead with his hand. "I am Hylia's chosen hero, as are you. It is time for your quest to start, you have to save the princess."

Link blinked. "I'm pretty sure I'm still asleep."

"She is in _danger._ " The ghost was frustrated. "Your friend needs to be saved."

"Zelda?!" Link's eye's widened. "But!"

"Hurry up, get dressed. You have to go on a journey to save her!" This kid was moving too slow for the ghost's taste. Link stayed in the bed, chewing on the inside of his cheek.

"If she's in trouble… We should get the police…. They can help her…" He said thoughtfully.

"No! That's not-" Link was already out of bed and headed next door. His neighbor Rusl was chief of police. He could help. "Kid! Hylia why this one?"

"Rusl!" Link frantically knocked on the door. A very tired man answered the door.

"Who? What?" He was still half asleep. "Link? Kid what-?"

"Zelda! Zelda's in trouble!" Link stopped himself. How was he supposed to explain that a ghost told him that his best friend was in trouble…? "At… at least…"

That woke Rusl up. "How did you know?" The disappearance of Zelda Harkanin was supposed to be a secret to everyone.

"She… she hasn't been in school… or answering her phone… she…" Link stammered. Rusl knew? "What happened to her?"

The man shook his head. "I cannot give you any details Link." The child's face fell. "But know this…" He knelt down to his level. "I will do everything in my power to find her. Now, please, keep this a secret to everyone, we don't want to worry anyone needlessly. I will find her." Rusl smiled warmly. "Go on back to bed okay? You have school tomorrow morning." He patted the child's shoulder and stood up, waiting for the kid to return inside. Slowly Link turned and went back into his grandmother's house. The trek up the stairs seemed to go on for hours… Finally Link reached his bed and flopped onto it.

"Hardly appropriate behavior from a hero." Oh great. The ghost was still there.

"I'm not a hero I'm a kid. A kid whose best friend is missing." Link retorted back.

"Well I agree with you on the hero part." Oh great. The ghost was still there and he was being insulting. "But she is more than a friend to you."

Link sat up with a start. "How?!" The ghost chuckled sadly and looked out the window.

"Because. I was in love with her too." Link stared at the ghost. A ghost? Was in love with his best friend?

"Erm…"

"When I was alive, she was too. She was not a human though; she was…" The ghost shook his head. "Unimportant. You have to find your friend. That is important."

"Okay mister, judging by that get up you've been dead a really long time." Seriously, a red cape? "But people don't go off on quests and save damsels in distress. There are rules, procedures. The police are looking for her, if I get in the way then she may never be found and I'll get in trouble."

The old hero was shaking his head. "You have to go find her. You have to bring magic back to Hyrule."

Link snorted. "Magic? Pfft." He turned over and tried to sleep, silently praying that he get no more nightmares.

"I am not leaving you. This is exactly what happened before. The princess was killed before the hero could be awoken and Hyrule was cast into darkness. It is why the magic is gone now." The hero crossed his arms.

Link swallowed harshly. Zelda? Killed? "You can't follow me to school. People will see you."

"If you do not start your quest soon Zelda will be killed." Link bit his lower lip. Could the ghost be on to something?

"What do I need to do?"

"Awaken the magic in this land. There is a temple nearby, in the woods inside of an old mansion." The ghost tried to quell the rising relief he felt. This kid was still not ready to be a hero.

"That place the high school used as a haunted house for a fundraiser?" Link raised an eyebrow. "Didn't it get condemned or something last year?"

"I do not understand what that means." Oh great, the ghost was still there and he was not with the times at all. Link sighed heavily.

"Listen, I'll figure out a way to get there tomorrow night okay? But I have school in the morning." The teen looked over at his alarm clock. "Actually I have to get up in two hours…" He groaned.

"What is this "school?""

Link sighed again. "It's, it's a place where you go and you learn things. Like tomorrow I have my Korok language class, and science, and mathematics, and history, and lit and lang, and gym class, and geography, and a study hall."

"History is a good thing to learn. It will help you on your quest." The ghost nodded. "Yes you must attend that one."

"Okay, well I'm gonna end up sleeping through my history class if you don't let me go to sleep." Link yawned. "Tomorrow night. We'll go to the haunted house tomorrow night."

The ghost said something, but Link was too tired to figure out what. It didn't sound like normal Hylian.

Link awoke to Aryl pounding on his door. "Link wake up!" Sleepily he rubbed the sleep from his eyes and yawned.

"Good morning." Link screamed. The ghost was still there. "What is this?" He was looking through a comic. "What are these characters?"

"Link are you okay?" Aryl asked.

"Yeah! Just uhm… Leave me alone!" Link shouted to the door. "What are you doing here!?" He hissed to the ghost.

"I am guiding you on your quest. What is this writing, I have never come across it before?"

Link crossed the room and snatched the comic out of the ghost's hands. "It's a comic book. And it's written in plain modern Hylian."

"The Hylian language has changed?" The ghost furrowed his brow.

"Yeah, it got simpler." Link shoved the comic into his book bag and began to get dressed. "Are you gonna follow me around all day? What if someone sees you?"

"I am only seen by those who need to see me." Link guessed that meant the ghost was coming to school with him…

"Okay… Just… don't cause a scene or anything."

The moment he stepped into his history class things started going wrong.

"Um…." Sheik was staring at Link as if he had chu chus climbing all over him. "Link are you…?"

"That boy is a Sheikah, he can view the dead." The ghost said.

"There's something weird about you today." Sheik furrowed his brow, something was off, but he couldn't tell what.

"I just didn't get much sleep last night." Link yawned and laid down on the desk. Could Sheik really see the dead hero?

"If he is loyal to the royal family he will be a valuable asset." The ghost said. Link tried really hard not to roll his eyes.

To his left Midna, a short girl with orange hair, sat down. "Umm?" Link shot her a questioning look. "Don't you usually only talk to Zelda?"

"Yeah well, Zelda's been a no show all week and I have a sneaking suspicion that we're getting a group project and I don't exactly have great choices in this class." She tied her hair up into a ponytail. "I looked at the lesson plans." Link and Sheik groaned. "Three or four people in a group."

"What is a lesson plan?" Link bit his lower lip, trying to contain a frustrated growl.

"I'll be right back I gotta pee." He hurried out of the classroom and into the bathroom. "Please! Shut up! Just don't talk while I'm in school! There will be plenty of time for that later!" Link half shouted at the ghost. "Just, hide in my backpack or something!"

"You aren't alone in here." The ghost pointed behind Link. With a look of horror Link turned to find Zant standing behind him.

"It's okay. They talk to me too. Maybe they should hide in my backpack too." Zant walked out. Link sighed in relief. No one really believed Zant. The bell rang and Link hurried back to his classroom.

Sure enough, they were assigned a group project. "We just got finished with a project. Why are we getting another one?" Link whined.

"Hush." Midna rolled her eyes. "At least it's just about the legends."

"Okay but, there are like a zillion legends in Hyrule, that doesn't narrow it down at all." Link pointed out. "And everyone knows like, the same twelve."

"Well, do we want to do one of the heroes?" Sheik offered. "It'd be easy. There's so much written about them."

"Okay the heroes did literally the same thing over and over again." Midna argued.

"Do the Temple of Hylia." The ghost suggested to Link.

"What about a place instead of a whole legend?" Link raised an eyebrow. "It'll narrow things down a bit to make it easier."

Sheik nodded in agreement. "Yeah I like that idea. Where though?"

"The Temple of Hylia."  
"The Twilight Realm." Midna glared at Link. "Where even is the Temple of Hylia? It only appears in one legend. It's lost." Link slumped in his chair. He should have known that listening to the ghost was a bad idea.

"Okay but the Twilight Realm is a made up place to make children feel better about where they sent criminals." Sheik pointed out. "And it also only appears in one legend." It was Midna's turn to slump in her chair.

Link stared off at one of the posters. "The desert…" In the legends the bad guy usually came from the desert. Maybe this project could help him learn more about it?

Sheik shook his head. "No. We are not poking that deku baba. Don't you know what's been going on?"

"But there's always unrest at the border." Link pointed out.

"Sheik's right. No." Midna shook her head. "There's too much bad blood with the desert."

"Okay well we need to pick something before we get stuck doing an entire legend." Link huffed.

The three got stuck doing an entire legend. The legend of the hero of the winds.

"Okay, well my grandma used to tell me and my sister the stories of the hero of winds." Link leaned back into his chair and stretched.

"My aunt probably has a book that has the legend in it." Sheik suggested.

"Coolio. I'll see what I can find online. We should meet up this weekend and figure out how we're gonna present it and work on the written portion." The boys nodded in agreement. Link couldn't help but think about how Zelda would have handed the project. She'd probably do all the research, he'd make the project, and she'd give something to the other two. She'd also hover over them and make sure that what they were doing was right… There was a reason why she had the best grades… She had always said that he could be just as good if he did the work.

"Hello? Earth to Link." Midna was waving her hand in front of his face. Link blinked and batted her hand away. "Were you even listening?"

"Yes." Link pouted. "We're meeting up this weekend to work on the project."

"Yeah but where? And when?" Sheik raised an eyebrow, grinning. Link stared at him blankly. "My place. Early tomorrow. You can sleep over tonight. I'll tell my aunt to order pizza." Midna muttered something about boys and pizza.

"You have to go to the forest." The spirit reminded. "If his aunt is a Sheikah as well, and if she is trained she will see me. They may have served the goddesses once but much seems to have changed." Link waved his hand dismissively.

"Yeah yeah I know." Sheik stared at him. Link blinked and realized he had been talking out loud. "Um…" He reached over and scribbled his number and address onto Sheik's notebook. "Meet me here after schoolish. That's my address."

"How romantic." Midna rolled her eyes. "But good idea." She scribbled her number down on a slip of paper and slid it to Sheik. "You still have mine right?" Link nodded.

"I uh.. Don't have a phone yet." Sheik clicked his tongue. "And I don't remember my aunt's house number. But I will give you a call or shoot you a text as soon as I can."

The bell rang and the class hurried to collect their things. "Okay so…" Link turned to Sheik. "I will talk with you in gym class and Midna," he turned to the petite girl. "I'll see you in science." He hurried out of the classroom, hoping to get an extra minute or two before his next class to organize his thoughts.

"Is he always that weird?" Sheik asked.

Midna nodded. "He's always spacing out. Probably thinking about Zelda."

"Who is she? I've heard her name a few times but I haven't met her." He followed her into the hall.

"That would be because she's been absent for a few days." Midna sighed. "If you were listening earlier you would have heard that. Link said yesterday she hadn't been answering her phone either."

Sheik chewed on his lower lip. "Well I hope she's okay…"

"Yeah." Midna sighed again and headed down the hallway to her science class with Link. The smell of the room made her gag. Glancing around she saw dissection trays and dead frogs. Link wasn't at his normal spot. "Oh Link if you make me dissect a frog I will dissect you instead." She sat down next to his spot and set her stuff down. It wasn't the dead frogs that bothered her, it was the dead frogs who were dead and preserved so they could be cut up. The bell rang and Link rushed into the class just before it ended.

"Cutting it close there Link." He muttered a quick apology before sliding into his spot next to Midna.

"So this is the second time you were practically late for class." Midna raised an eyebrow.

"Actually it's the umpteenth." Link covered his nose with his shirt. "Why does it smell so bad?"

"You're dissecting a frog." Midna wrinkled her nose.

"Right before Lunch? What?!" Link groaned. "This blows." The two barely listened to the directions the teacher had given them. Midna refused to do any of the dissection so Link was stuck doing the whole thing. "They could have at least given us gloves." He muttered.

Midna wrinkled her nose. "We shouldn't be dissecting frogs at all. They're endangered." Link snorted. He was almost positive these frogs weren't endangered. Just smelly. "Zelda would have warned me that this was happening…" Midna said absentmindedly. "I hope she's okay…"

"She will be." Link set the scalpel down. "Look I don't want to dig around a frog right before lunch, let's just fill out the worksheet."

"Good idea." Minda pushed the tray away with her pencil while Link went to wash his hands.

"I don't understand, why are you mutilating those frogs?" The spirit asked.

"Later." Link hissed.

The rest of the day was uneventful. As Link walked home with Aryll he kicked a pebble.

"What's got you down?" She asked. Link shook his head, unwilling to talk about it. Aryll picked up on the hint and sighed. The walk home was mostly silent.

When they arrived home Link headed straight up to his room and began to pace.

"You have to start your quest tonight." The spirit reminded. "The longer you wait the more danger she'll be in."

"I know." Link sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "It's just… This is a lot for me to take in. I'm still a kid." He looked up at the spirit. "I…" He trailed off and sighed again.

"There are heroes younger than you. The hero you're studying was your age when his quest started." The ghost pointed out.

"The hero of winds was thirteen?"

"Eleven."

Link groaned.

"When is the age of manhood now?" The spirit mused. "You say you're still a child. Have you not gone through a rite of passage into manhood?" Link rolled his eyes and took his school stuff out of his backpack, replacing them with some clothes.

"That's not really a thing anymore." Link paused. "You said you were Hylia's chosen hero, when did your quest begin?" The spirit's expression hardened.

"My quest has started many times. I was cursed to be reborn, so while this spirit is that of the first hero, I remember all the lives of all the heroes."

Link blinked. "I don't really get it… You're…? But…?"

"Know that I would not wish any of my lives upon anyone." The spirit looked out the window. "Your friend is here." Link spared a glance out the window to see Sheik heading up his path.

"Okay, so here's the plan." He turned his attention back to the spirit. "You're gonna hide in my back pack. When Sheik is asleep I'll sneak out with you and we'll go to the forest and do whatever it is you want me to do and then slip back in before he wakes up."

"You'll need a weapon." Link chewed on the inside of his cheek. The heroes always had a weapon…. Or several… He grabbed his slingshot and pouch from inside a shoe box in his closet and stuffed it into his bag.

"Link you have a friend here!" Aryll called. Link slung his bag over his shoulder, happy to see that the spirit had disappeared, and hurried down the stairs.

"Grandma I'm gonna spend the night at a friend's house, we're meeting up with a girl from class in the morning to work on a project." Link waved into the kitchen.

"Which friend?" His grandmother peered up from above her glasses. "And I don't remember you asking." She raised an eyebrow.

Link shuffled his bag. "A new kid named Sheik, it was kinda a last second thing."

"Have I met his mother?"

"He lives with his aunt. They just moved here." Link winced as the elderly woman stood up, assuming he was about to get a lecture. Instead he found a plate of cookies being pushed into his hands.

"Welcome them to town for me. I'll have to invite her over for tea sometime." His grandma smiled warmly. Link smiled in return and turned to leave. "And don't eat them out of house and home!" She called.

Link closed the door behind him and hurried out to Sheik.

"Since when did Link have a cute friend?" Aryll furrowed her brow.

"Oh you hush Aryll…" Her grandma shook her head.

"Can I invite Romani for a sleep over?" Aryll asked. "Since Link's away at a friend's house?"

"Is your room cleaned?" The elderly woman raised an eyebrow.

"It will be?" She asked. If granny was gonna say no there was no point in cleaning it.

"Clean it first then ask again." She chuckled.

* * *

 _ **I'm gonna try to update this regularly. If you can't tell, this is gonna follow the standard Zelda formula of dungeon crawling to save the world. There are no Breath of the Wild spoilers right now. (I can't play the game just yet so please keep me spoiler free too :)) I'll leave that note up until it's no longer true.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two:** There is a Talking Tree

The last thing Link expected when he met Sheik's aunt was… well Sheik's aunt. He was one hundred percent certain that Impa could bench press seven children. She was paler than Sheik, and her hair seemed to have gone white early. She probably wasn't out of her thirties yet. On her right arm was a tattoo of the Goron crest, her wrist had the Zoran crest. Her left arm had the Gerudo crest. Link was willing to bet she had a crest for each of the peoples of Hyrule.

"My aunt works as a peace keeper. She's gets a new tattoo for each new group she works with and adds more each time she goes back to visit." Sheik explained. "She's met with the Goron's the most, since they were so close."

"That's really cool." Maybe Impa knew a bit about the legends… Maybe she could help him on his quest? Link pushed the thought out of his mind. A quest? Suddenly pain seemed to split his skull.

"Link? Are you okay man?" Link felt Sheik's hand on his back, but when he opened his eyes the countryside was racing past him and the wind whipped at his hair. He felt himself being jostled, as if he were riding a horse. "Link!"

"Wha?" Link shook himself out of the vision. "Sorry, head ache. Not much sleep last night." The car pulled into a drive way and Link practically leapt out of the car before it stopped, hoping to avoid the gaze of the two Sheikah.

"If you're trying not to draw attention to yourself you aren't doing a good job." The ghost whispered from his backpack.

"Let's uh... get started on the project!" Link tried to change the subject. He could feel the tension in the air. "Come on Midna's gonna blow a gasket if we don't have something for tomorrow." He followed Sheik inside.

"You can set your stuff in my room, just ignore the boxes, I'm not done unpacking yet." Sheik led Link to his room. There was a pile of boxes in one corner and a few peeking out from under the bed. "Okay so where should we start?" Sheik sat down on the bed.

Link chewed on his lower lip and leaned against the dresser. He looked down at his backpack where the hero's spirit hid. Did he remember this life? Was it a good one? "You said your aunt might have a book about the legends?"

"Yeah probably buried somewhere in one of these boxes. I'll go ask her." Sheik left his room and the spirit popped out of the bag.

"The temple is not far from here. At nightfall you have to go to purify it." The ghost popped out of the bag.

"What do you mean purify? You said I needed a weapon but all I've got is my slingshot…" Link hissed.

"My mom's got a few books on all the legends." Sheik came back with an armful of books. "These are the ones she let me take. She's got more but they're either in other languages or a million years old so she doesn't let me touch them." He dumped the books on the bed.

"Welp… That's way more than what I was expecting." Link looked between the books and Sheik.

"Too much?" Sheik raised an eyebrow nervously.

"Maybe. We just need three sources." Link leafed through one of the books. "This one looks good." Sheik started looking through books as well. "It's got stuff on Outset Island, where the legend starts."

"This one has the legend in its entirety." Sheik held up a thick book. "This one has pictures." He held up another one.

"One two three. Good enough for me."

Link waited until he was sure Sheik had fallen asleep before sneaking out. The slingshot and pouch of pebbles were in his hoodie pocket, and the ghost followed behind him giving unhelpful directions.

"I know where I'm going! Zelda and I went here every year for that haunted…" Link trailed off. Something was pulling him in another direction. Link headed down the path opposite the old haunted house.

"Where are you going? The temple is the other direction." The ghost said.

"There's something here." Link made his way into a clearing with a giant tree. The tree had to be ancient, the grey trunk seemed to be about half a football field thick. The tree seemed to have…a face…? "What is this?"

"A deku tree…?" The ghost was just as confused. "I have not seen one in such a long time."

"Huh?"

"The deku trees are protectors of the forests. They would often guide the heroes when their quests began." The ghost explained. "But I have not seen one in ages."

 _Come to me children. Your quest has begun again._

"You heard that too right?" Link looked around. The ghost nodded.

"We cannot dally here. We must purify the temple."

 _No. She is here._

"She?" Link blinked. "Zelda?!" He darted forward as an opening to the tree appeared.

"Link! No!" The ghost followed after the boy. "Something here is not right!"

Link ignored the past hero and looked around the room. A big hole was in the center, looking over the edge Link could see vines along the walls of the hole and water near the bottom. He felt something pull at his chest and climbed down the vines.

"Link! This is not right, something is wrong."

"But she's here! Zelda's here!" Link protested. "I- I can't explain it, but she's here!" The ghost frowned. "I'll go to the haunted house another time. But if Zelda's here…." His feet touched the soft ground and he let go of the vines.

"There is something not right about this…" The old hero repeated. Link climbed onto the block and then onto the platform. There was another hole in the center. There were no vines to climb down.

"How do I get down?"

The ghost furrowed his brow. "I think I jumped."

"You jumped?!" Link looked at the ghost. "Wait you've been here before?"

"I think so… The memories blur together… I cannot remember all of the details." A faint noise made the two fall silent. "Can you hear that?"

"help!" The voice was faint and horse, whoever it was had been shouting for a long time. Link made up his mind and jumped.

"What are you doing you fool!?" The ghost shouted after him. As quickly as Link had jumped, he was enveloped in water. His feet scraped the bottom of the pool and he pushed himself up. Gasping for breath Link made his way to the shore and stared at the large door in front of him.

"Do you remember this door?" Link asked the old hero. The ghost shook his head.

"I remember my past lives but the memories all blur together, I do know that behind this door is a great evil."

"help…" The voice was weaker this time. "please..." Link steeled his nerves and pushed on the door. To his surprise, it raised up rather quickly. Taking one last breath Link entered the dark room. The door slammed behind him, causing him to jump in surprise. He glanced over his shoulder, in this room the door looked just like the wall. He couldn't tell where one began and another ended. There was a rustling sound throughout the room.

In the center of the room was a bundle of something wrapped up in silvery-white threads. Link rushed forward, finding the thread to be cobwebs. He pulled at the cobwebs finding his best friend underneath. "Zelda!" He hurried to free her from the cobwebs relieved that his best friend was seemingly okay.

"Link?" Her voice was horse. "What happened? Who's with you?"

"Shh… Just gimme a sec, I'll get you out of here." Link didn't notice the room go silent.

"Link look out!" The ghost shouted. Link looked over his shoulder to find a giant Ghoma with its front legs raised and poised to strike. The angry red eyed beast hissed at him. Link felt a cold sensation and then felt his arms moving Zelda and him out of the way. He wasn't entirely in control of his muscles.

"Stay here." He told Zelda, but was that really him? His voice sounded strange.

"Link?" Zelda asked. But he was already gone, trying to distract the monster so it would get away from her.

"Your weapon! Strike the eye!" He heard the ghost, but the voice was weirder, like the ghost was inside of him. Pushing the thought aside Link fumbled for his slingshot and dropped the pouch of pebbles on the ground. "Duck!" Link looked up and ducked in time to avoid the swipe of the Ghoma. He grabbed a pebble in front of him and felt himself roll out of the way of another swipe.

"Are you controlling me?!" Link stood up. "So not cool!"

"Fight better!" The ghost retorted back. Link felt himself take aim at the Ghoma and release. He hit the monster square in the eye. The monster shrieked and fell down, temporarily stunned. "Rip the eye from its socket!" The ghost appeared next to him.

"How?!" Link really didn't want to dig in and rip the eye out with his bare hands… He already half dissected a frog with his bare hands…

"Hurry!" Alright so he was ripping the eye out with his bare hands. Maybe he should just start carrying gloves on him at all times. Link dug his fingers into the eye socket and pulled, trying to ignore the slimey eyeball feel or the green blood he was being soaked in. With a sickening POP the eye came out and the Ghoma fell down dead. Link quickly dropped the eye and flicked his hands, trying to get rid of the monster blood that covered them.

"Blech…" He made a face at the eyeball. A rustling noise made him remember, Zelda was still there… Did she happen to see him pull the eyeball out with his bare hands?

"Did you… Is that… And is he… What…?" So probably…

"Yes?" Link offered. Zelda's eyes fluttered and she began to sway. Link hurried to catch her before she could hit the ground. "Zelda?"

"She will be alright." A soft blue light filled the room. "Take her away from this cursed place."

"What was a Ghoma doing here? I thought they were only in myths." Link carried Zelda into the blue light, feeling himself stronger. The light brightened until it was blinding. When it faded, Link found himself standing in the grove with the giant tree.

"I told you before, you have to bring the magic back to Hyrule. Monsters are awakening and it is only a matter of time before the King of Thieves is reborn."

 _Thank you._ Link figured it had to be the tree. _Thank you for saving the girl and defeating Prince Ghoma._

"Prince Ghoma?" Link furrowed his brow. "Wait a descendent of Queen Ghoma?"

 _Yes. Many ages ago, my ancestor was cursed by the evil man from the desert. Queen Ghoma infected him and he died from the poison. The hero of that time defeated Queen Ghoma, but did not destroy all of her eggs. The one you have slain ate his brothers and sisters and took up residence in my ancestor. The demon lord Ghirahim tamed Prince Ghoma to watch over the girl._

"Ghirahim." The ghost growled. "Him I know very well."

 _I do not know why this girl was needed nor why the demon lord awoke after ages of slumber. The time for a new hero has come. Are you worthy to be that hero my child?_

Link looked down at his friend in his arms. He was thirteen years old, she was thirteen years old. They should be worrying about tests and school and getting ready for middle school to end and high school to start…

But at the same time, darkness was awakening. Who else could seal it away? Groose?

The ghost had come to him. This was his quest. This was his journey.

Link looked up and nodded at the tree. "Yes."

 _Go north. There you will find a stream to purify yourself in. Your heart will guide you from there._

"I have to take care of my friend. She's been gone for days, her parents are missing her, she needs to see a doctor." Link protested.

 _Place your friend in the white light in front of my ancestor. I may be but a sapling but I can insure she will be taken to safety._ A white light appeared in front of the dead deku tree. Link hesitated a moment before approaching the light.

"You promise she'll be safe?"

 _Yes._

Link set his best friend down in the light and stepped away. The light faded away along with her body.

 _Go north._

"How do I find north?" Link asked.

"This way." The ghost stood at the entrance of the clearing. "Follow the stars. They are friend to all the heroes and will guide you." Link looked up to the stars, but couldn't see how they'd guide him…

"How?"

"You will learn." The ghost led Link to the stream. Link rushed in, ignoring the cold and grateful to be able to wash the monster blood off. Once he felt clean Link returned to the bank. The ghost floated near a cave. "Listen to your heart. Let it guide you to where you must go."

"Can't you just tell me?" Link sighed. The ghost shook his head.

"This is a test for you. You must prove that you are worthy of being the hero. Enter the cave and let your heart guide you through." The ghost drifted to one side to allow Link to pass. "You must go through this test alone." Link took one last look at the ghost, waiting for him to say it was all an elaborate hoax, but he didn't. The kid walked into the cave.

The cave was dark, so dark he could scarcely see in front of him. He dragged one hand against the wall, finding it to be smooth and damp. Not knowing any other way, Link moved forward until he came into a dimly lit chamber.

"Please." The sudden voice made him jump. "Do not be afraid." Squinting Link could faintly see an old man standing in the chamber holding a sword. "It's dangerous to go alone. Take this." He offered the sword to Link.

"Thank you." Gently Link took the sword from the old man.

"No. Do not thank me. It is a curse." Suddenly the light was extinguished and the man disappeared. In his place was a green stone. Link pocketed the stone and exited the cave, his hand brushing the wall to guide him.

"So you have returned." The ghost hadn't moved. "Come, it will be day soon." Link groaned. Tomorrow was not going to be fun.

* * *

 _yes! On time! I actually have had this chapter written for a while now... Im working on the fourth one but it's getting long... I might have to break it up..._

 _Hope you're here for a long story because this is gonna be a loooooong story..._


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three** Just When Things Were Going Great

Weeks had passed since Link had adventured through the deku tree. Zelda had been reunited with her family and returned to school a few days later. She refused to talk about what happened to most people, but confided to Link that she couldn't remember anything. She joined Midna and Sheik and him in the project and together they managed to scrape a solid A. Link hardly did any of the work, but his friends refused to admit that. The four settled into a routine as middle school started to wind down.

Oh, and the ghost was still there…

"Just because your friend is safe now does not mean she will be for long." The dead hero reminded him.

"I know, but we already tried going into the mansion a week ago." Link leaned back in his desk. "The entrance was destroyed remember? I can't get in." On top of the entrance being destroyed, Link swore he was being watched…

"There is a way in." The ghost insisted.

"How?" Link crossed his arms and glared at the ghost. The old hero didn't answer. "Exactly! So we're stuck until the field trip this weekend." As a tradition, the eighth-grade class always took a weekend field trip to somewhere in Hyrule. This year they were going to see the old mines and explore Death Mountain.

"You should be taking this time to learn about the next temple."

"I don't even know where to start! We have no idea where the next temple is!" Link pushed his chair out and left his room. He learned from Impa that ghosts couldn't pass barriers that had the symbol of the shadows on it so he drew the symbol on his walls, window sill, and door to lock the ghost in his room. Link needed a few moments of quiet. Aryll was sprawled on the couch eating popcorn and watching tv. "Mind if I join you?"

"Go ahead." Aryll made no indication of moving. Link rolled his eyes and plopped down on the floor. A few minutes of mindless television should clear his head.

"Why are you watching educational television?" He groaned. It was a documentary about the history of Hyrule.

"There's nothing else on." She shrugged. "This episode's about the Gorons. Maybe you should watch. You don't want to be crushed by one of them on your field trip."

Link pried a pillow from the couch and threw it at her head. Aryll caught the pillow. Link slumped onto his arms and sighed. "I'm not gonna get crushed by a Goron." He pouted. Aryll took the opportunity to throw the pillow at him, nailing him in the head. "OW!"

The front door opened and their grandma appeared with groceries before Link could put Aryll in a headlock. "Go unload the car, both of you." Aryll huffed and slid off the couch to do as she was told. Link rubbed his head and pushed himself off the ground.

"A mysterious gem, the Goron Ruby is said to once have been a key to opening the sacred realm." Link found himself staring at the tv. "It is now lost to time along with the other Spiritual Stones, the Kokiri Emerald and the Zora Sapphire."

"Link. Groceries." His grandma reminded.

Link blinked. "Mmhmm," he mumbled and went to grab the last of the groceries. Something wasn't sitting right with the whole "lost to time" thing…

That night Link tossed and turned. His nightmares were filled with fire. A giant dodongo was chasing him, but directly in front of him was a serpentine like dragon. Fire hurtled toward him from both sides while an evil laughed sent a chill to his bones. Link awoke with a start.

"Another nightmare." The ghost didn't have to ask. He knew.

Link stretched and looked over to his alarm clock. He'd have to wake up in another hour anyways. "Can you tell me anything about the Spiritual Stones?"

"They were entrusted to three races to be protected; the Kokiri, the Gorons, and the Zoras. But I do not recall much else. Their importance and creation was after my death."

Link yawned. "But did you come across them in another life?"

The ghost paused. "I am sure… I just do not remember which one."

Link reached into his bag and pulled out a notebook and a pencil. He flipped to the back and opened the notebook. "What do you remember? Maybe it'll give me a clue." The ghost shook his head.

"I may be the original hero but my life was nothing like the others." The ghost crossed his arms. "My life is not a pleasant tale. There is a reason why it has been forgotten."

Link sighed, too tired to deal with the ghost's angst. "What was Hyrule like?"

The ghost thought for a moment. "Hyrule… How best to describe it… Hyrule did not exist in my original life. It was a beautiful land protected by the goddess Hylia, until the demon king polluted it and made it all rot away that is."

"Hylia? The fallen goddess? Didn't she fall from the heavens because she couldn't do her job or something?" Link tried to recall the legends his grandmother had told him. There was a story about Hylia's fall, she was known as the fallen goddess after all, but he couldn't remember all the details.

"She did not fall from the heavens." The ghost's voice was laced with more venom than usual. "She fell in love."

"With you?" Link raised an eyebrow. He couldn't imagine anyone falling in love with the dead hero, much less a goddess. He was angry all the time and rude. The only time the ghost had been somewhat nice to him was when he went into the cave and got the sword. Even then Link was pretty sure he had hallucinated that whole thing since the sword was nowhere to be found. The only indicator that the event happened was the strange green stone he kept on his dresser.

"With who I used to be." The ghost looked at one of the symbols Link had drawn to keep him trapped in the room.

"You're so cryptic." Link sighed. He dropped the pencil and the notebook back into his bag and threw the covers off his bed. "I'm getting ready for school." Link opened his phone to find a text from Zelda. He opened the message and frowned. Tapping filled the room as Link typed out his reply. Zelda replied soon after, and her response made Link chew on his lip.

"Something is bothering you." The ghost noted. Link left his room and slammed the door close in response. He went to splash water on his face but when he looked up he found someone who wasn't quite him… This face had jagged blond hair, like it had been cut with safety scissors, and heavy bags under his light blue eyes, eyes that looked as if they had seen a thousand terrors but couldn't be phased by one. The face was younger than his…

Link blinked and rubbed his eyes. Staring back at him was his bed head and bleary eyed self. Link went downstairs and began going through the motions of getting ready for school. Soon Aryll woke up and joined him and soon the two were leaving for school. Link left the ghost locked in his room.

Link entered the library and looked around the bookshelves for his best friend. Eventually he found her sitting in the corner, knees drawn under her chin and looking at her shoes. Link set his backpack down and sat down in front of her. The two were silent for a long time.

"How long have you known?" Link winced. It came out harsher than he wanted.

"I just found out yesterday. Tetra found out and was yelling at Gonzo. She said it shouldn't have been kept from me." Link chewed on his lower lip.

"A-at least we have the next month." He tried to swallow the lump in his throat. He had a month to tell her how he felt. "A-and we can still text each other and talk on the computer…"

"Link I'm scared." Her brows knitted together. "What if he's all stuck up and mean? What if he hurts me? What if I'm not the daughter he wanted?"

"Zelda, you're a perfect student." Link found his voice catching in his throat. "Why wouldn't he want you?"

"What even happened for him to have disappeared like that in the first place?" Tears started to well behind her eyes. Link leaned back on his hands and sighed. Now or never.

"Zelda I… I have something I have to get off my chest." What he really about to do this? Zelda looked up at him confused. "Zelda, for the past four weeks I have been haunted by a ghost who has the same name as me and he told me that I'm the legendary hero reborn and that I have to purify a bunch of temples or else you'll be in danger." That… isn't what he wanted to say…

Zelda looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Zelda I-"

"Link ghosts aren't real." Zelda sniffled. "If you're trying to distract me-"

"No! Goddess no I just…" Link sat up and ran his fingers through his hair. "I can't… Oh I shouldn't have said that. That's not what I wanted to say."

"What did you want to say?" Link sighed and looked at his friend. He wanted to remember her like this. The girl who wore ratty old jeans and climbed trees to read books in peace and cut all her hair off herself because she was tired of it getting in her eyes and wore blue jackets and pink sneakers and funny socks and had the most beautiful eyes he had ever seen. The girl who helped him with school work and snuck into R rated movies with him and sat next to him during assemblies and made fun of them with him. The girl who tried so hard to get him to join band and even let him play her flute and the girl who once punched Groose square in the face for tripping him and who cried whenever she saw a baby bunny. The girl who loved birds and going into the woods with him to find bugs and had kissed him but not really on the bus in third grade. The girl who had been his best friend since elementary school.

"Can we take a picture together?" He chewed on his lower lip. "I want a picture to remember us like this."

Zelda raised an eyebrow. "Something to remember the real world before they cart you away to a mental hospital ghost boy?" Link rolled his eyes and scooted next to her.

"Sure." He fished his phone from his pocket and opened up his camera as the bell rang. "Hold on." He turned his phone around and held it out as far away as possible and clicked. When he looked at the picture Zelda started laughing. The picture was blurry and dark, there wasn't much lighting in her favorite corner. Both their faces were red and they just looked goofy.

"Link that's a horrible picture."

"It's a great picture." Link stood up and offered a hand to help her up. "Come on, we'll be late to homeroom." He tried to ignore the queasiness in his stomach. Giving the news to Midna and Sheik at lunch sucked and made the queasiness grow tenfold.

His best friend was leaving him after this school year. Her father was alive and she would be moving to Castletown with him after the school year was over.

* * *

 _I know I'm late. I had to close last night._

 _This chapter is the shortest one so far, but the next chapter is getting to be huge so I might split that one up. (This chapter was supposed to be part of the next chapter but that didn't happen obviously.) Zelda's situation is explained early in the next chapter and through out the next few chapters so please be patient about it._

 _And for a fair warning, this story is going to take place over a period of seven years ish, so there will be timeskips between chapters._


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter Four** My Reputation Goes Up in Smoke (to the Dismay of the Dodongos)

Link silenced his alarm and yawned. The day of the field trip had finally arrived, and Link had to be at the school by 4:30 in the morning. Half asleep he changed out of his pajamas and tried to go through his checklist of what he had packed.

"Are you going to remove the sigils so that I may join you?" The ghost asked. Link nodded and peeled a sticky note off the door. "I will remain in your back pack."

Link shook his head. "I won't always have my back pack. I can keep my slingshot bag in my pocket though." He yawned. "I can't bring my slingshot though. I'll get in massive trouble."

"In time you will be able to summon your equipment at will. For now trust your sword. It will appear when you call for it."

"Heeereee sword… Come here boy." Link smiled and left to wake up his grandma.

"Your blade is not a dog!"

After annoying the ghost a bit more and convincing his grandma to make muffins for him and his friends, Link sat at the end of the stairs waiting for the "infamous pirate leader" Tetra to pick him up. In all fairness he was the last one being picked up since he lived closest to the school.

"Link?" Aryll stood at the top of the stairs. "Are you leaving?" Link nodded. His sister yawned and took a seat next to him. "Don't get crushed by a Goron hug." She said sleepily, leaning on him. Link snorted.

"Looks like Tetra's here." Their grandma said. Link stood up and stretched, to the dismay of Aryll who had been using him as a pillow. He gave his grandma a hug. "Watch out for your friends okay? That Midna's mouth is gonna get her in trouble." Link stifled a chuckle.

"Have fun Link." Aryll yawned and gave her brother a hug. Link ruffled her hair, grabbed his suitcase and the muffins his grandma mad, and headed to meet his friends. He managed to fit his suitcase in the trunk of Tetra's car and plopped down in the back seat.

"My grandma made muffins." Link offered. Midna groaned in appreciation and grabbed one.

"Maybe later." Zelda said. Sheik had fallen back asleep.

"I'm good kid." Tetra smiled. The ride was silent, as the four were too tired. The middle school was teeming with sleepy kids. For most of them, this was their first time going far away from home. After a bag checks the four piled on to the charter bus, being firmly reminded by one of the parent chaperones that boys and girls were to sit in separate aisles. Sheik took the window seat, putting a pillow on the window and falling back asleep, leaving Link the aisle. Midna took the window seat on the pair of seat opposite the boys, leaving Zelda the window seat.

"If anyone wakes me up before the sun is up I will-" Midna's empty threat was cut off by a chaperone trying to get the attention of the kids. She huffed while the chaperone went over the rules. Boys and girls can't sit next to each other after dark, you're representing the school so be on your best behavior, bla, bla bla. Link tuned most of it out, Zelda would keep the three of them in check anyways. With a lurch the bus started and their field trip began.

"Link?" Zelda asked. "You awake still?" Link nodded. "Good."

"Have you learned anything else?" He asked.

Zelda nodded. "He left me in Faron province because he was afraid his political opponents would target me, but he lost contact with the woman taking care of me. That's when Tetra's crew took me in. When I went missing my picture ended up in the papers in Castletown. Apparently I look just like my mom."

"Isn't Gonzo your guardian though? He's the adult of her crew." Link asked.

"Gonzo gave me up." Zelda's voice caught in her throat. "He thought I should be with my "real" family."

"But Tetra's crew is your real family." Link frowned.

"I know." Zelda sighed. "But there's nothing I can do." Sheik snored loudly making Zelda smile. "I'm really glad I got to know Sheik. You know, you guys will have to visit."

"Us small townies in Castletown?" Link snorted.

"I'm just as small town." Zelda pointed out. "This is the first time I'm leaving Faron… Well the first time since…"

"Yeah." Link chuckled. "So are you going to school there then?" She nodded.

"Yeah. It's a private school. There are dorms on campus, I wish you guys could go too. Your grades are good enough, there are scholarships." She chewed on her lower lip.

Link stifled a laugh. "With my grades? Zelda my grades are only good because you help out so much."

"Nah." She smiled. "You're really smart Link. You're just lazy." Link covered his mouth to try and quiet his laughter.

"Shaddup." A groan came from behind them.

The two glanced down the aisle and then back at each other. "What time is it?" Zelda yawned.

Link shuffled around his bag and pulled out his phone. "Like 6:30 am." Link yawned. Zelda nodded. "What time are we arriving again?"

"Around 4 pm. The first stop is at 8 am. We're stopping at a McTalos for breakfast." She yawned again. "You'll have to come visit me in Castletown this summer."

Link really didn't want to think about summer. "Yeah. I might see if I can start working on the ranch. Fado said he'd hire me when I turn fourteen."

"Yeah but that's not until the end of July." Zelda leaned back in her seat.

"So?" Link pulled out a blanket from his back pack. He yawned. "I might fall asleep."

"I'm surprised you're still awake." She teased. Link grumbled but soon fell asleep.

He was awoken by Sheik. "Come on, breakfast." Link rubbed his eyes and stretched. Zelda had fallen asleep on Midna's shoulder. Link offered a hand to Zelda and the four followed the line of students trickling out of the bus. Before they knew it, they were back on the bus. Link took the window seat and stole Sheik's pillow. He fell back asleep.

 _Flames flickered around the walls. His arms were strung above him. In front of him was a set of iron bars. The room was cold. Very cold. A sound caught his attention, the sound of footsteps on hard stone headed his way. There was a cold chuckle that bounced off the stone walls.  
"Well well how far you fell." A man stood on the other side of the bars._

Link awoke with a start. With a yawn he stretched, narrowly missing Sheik's head. "Sorry." He mumbled.

"We're playing the Alphabet game, wanna join us?" Sheik offered.

"No Sheik you're gonna throw me off I have all my answers planned out!" Midna protested. "Next round!"

"Naw I'll stay out of this one. Will you hand me my backpack? I wanna work on some homework."

"Nerd." Midna teased as Sheik passed Link's bag to him.

"Pretty sure you have a math packet to be working on Midna." Zelda looked up from her book. "We should all do our homework now so we don't have to after the trip."

"Naw."  
"Nope."  
"Not all of it." The three countered. Zelda rolled her eyes.

"Fine but I won't help you out."

"Zelda I'm at least starting!" Link protested.

After several more rounds of the alphabet game and a break for lunch they finally made it to the hotel the school was staying at the base of Death Mountain.

"You're from here aren't you Sheik?" Zelda asked as the four enjoyed dinner at the hotel.

Sheik nodded. "I grew up in that town we passed through, Kakarico, but I've spent a lot of time in the mountain thanks to my aunt."

Link got an idea. "Do you know of any sacred sites in the mountain?" He tried to ignore the funny looks from Zelda and Midna.

"Yeah, there's a couple. The mine is technically one." Sheik wrinkled his nose in thought. "The Gorons that live in the mountain view the whole place as a sacred site."

"So does that technically make us trespassers?" Midna raised an eyebrow.

He shook his head no. "Not it's not that black and white. They like to share with everyone, they tend to be really welcoming to strangers. There's a few sections that they don't like non-Gorons in, although their patriarch can make exceptions. He usually does so for the PM as a show of brotherhood."

"Have you met the patriarch?" Link asked.

"Once or twice." Sheik snorted. "I'm mean, my aunt is a Peacekeeper, and she worked primarily in this area."

"What exactly does she do as a Peacekeeper?" Midna asked.

"She keeps the peace." Link said, earning an elbow from Zelda. "Ow."

"I mean you're basically right." Sheik said. "She tries to keep the relationship between different people strong. She studies the different cultures of Hyrule and works with the people and reports to ambassadors to help them do their job without upsetting anyone or accidentally causing a war." He took a bite of his food. "She also acted as the ambassador for the Sheikah when she was the matriarch but she had to step down for a bit. Knowing her she'll probably go back to being the matriarch but probably not until I leave for college."

"Does that put a lot of pressure on you?" Zelda asked. Her brow was furrowed, to anyone else it would seem like she was just asking a question but Link knew that face. Sheik was in a position that she was going to be in soon. She was looking for comfort, begging for a no.

Sheik shrugged. "Kinda. It's complicated…"

"Can I get your attention?" The vice principle was standing at the front of the dining hall. "We will be transitioning to the ballroom for your first workshop of the weekend." A mixture of groans and murmurs of appreciation filled the room. Students slowly started to finished their food and headed to their first workshop.

Link flipped through his packet for the uptenth time and chewed on his lower lip. Tomorrow they were going to tour the Goron mines, so tonight was one of his two opportunities to try to get to the temple. The problem was, he still wasn't any closer to figuring out where the temple was. Sheik's answer only broadened his search to the whole mountain. "Hey you never really answered my question." He looked over at the couch where Sheik was lounging. Sheik looked up from his book and raised an eyebrow. "Are there any sacred sites on the mountain?"

"Link the whole mountain is a sacred site." Sheik rolled his eyes. "You didn't listen."

"Gee thank metal mouth." It was Link's turn to roll his eyes. "Be more specific."

"Why do you even care snaggle tooth?" Link was silent. "Well?"

"I'm just curious!" Link defended.

"Really? You're "just curious" about sacred sites on the mountain?" Sheik frowned.

"Never mind." Link sighed and crawled under the covers. Hopefully Sheik would pick up on the hint and go to sleep as well. Then he could sneak out and purify the temple.

He woke up to the sound of Sheik getting ready for the day, meaning he had fallen asleep and missed his chance…

"Wake up sleepy head." Sheik teased. "You snore in your sleep."

"Shut up!" Link launched his pillow at the other boy, who ducked.

"Think Midna'll be my partner when we explore the mine?"

Link snorted. "In your dreams."

The students had been split into smaller groups led by either a teacher or adult chaperone, or a Goron volunteer. Link and Sheik were in a group with a Goron, who was apparently the patriarch Darunia.

"You should feel special. We're with the leader of the Gorons." Sheik elbowed the grumpy Link. Unfortunately, Darunia seemed too good at keeping track of the students he was in charge of, and after "wandering off" too many time Link was stuck under the watchful eye of the patriarch.

"Maybe if I could go off an explore by myself." He grumbled.

"Maybe if you didn't keep trying to sneak off." Sheik pointed out.

Link clenched his fists and felt a tingling power surround his left hand. In shock, he unclenched it and look at his it.

"Take a left." The ghost jarred him out of his pout. "Now."

Link stole a glance at Darunia, who was really getting into explaining a section of the cave. He looked over his shoulder and saw a small passageway. Confident that the large Goron wasn't going to follow him into the small passage, Link darted into the passage.

"Link!" Sheik hissed and followed. "Link!" As Link hurried down the path, as spectral figure emerged from his pocket.

"There is a Dodongo, a large one, that needs to be dealt with." The ghost explained. "Your friends are in danger."

"You went ahead without me?" Link feigned hurt. "Why haven't we found the rest of the temples then?"

"Call your sword." The ghost stopped.

"How?" Link skidded to a halt.

"You almost had it earlier."

"Link?! What are you doing?! Is that a ghost?!" Sheik had caught up to the teen and the ghost.

Link and the ghost exchanged looks and Link looked as pale as the ghost. "We do not have time for this. The Dodongo is around the corner."

"Sheik stay here." Link squeezed his left hand and found his sword appear in it. Both he and Sheik looked at the sword in shock.

"KID!" The ghost shouted. Link felt an approaching heat blow past.

"They breathe fire!? You didn't tell me that!" Link peeked around the corner. A large Dodongo was pacing the room. Suddenly there was a large explosion. The two teens ducked as the mine shook.

"That was a bomb flower." Sheik said.

"I don't think I can hurt it with my sword." Link chewed on his lower lip and glanced around the corner again.

"Link! We have to get out of here!" Sheik grabbed his friends arm and pulled.

"Sheik stay here. It's dangerous." Link looked down the hall where the fireball ended. Sure enough two bomb flowers were growing at the end of the hall. "Can I blow it up by feeding it a bomb flower?" He asked the ghost.

"That should work in part. It should at least force it to expose its weak underbelly." The ghost agreed. Link took another glance at the Dodongo and ran to the bomb flowers. The Dodongo began to suck in air. "Hurry!" Link threw the bomb as hard as he could into the Dodongo's mouth. Comically the Dodongo suddenly stopped and swallowed the bomb, and then fell over on its side when the bomb exploded. With a cry Link surged forward and split the Dodongo's stomach open. With a whine the Dodongo died.

"Yeah!" Link punched his sword into the air. "I did it!"

"Not all the monsters you face will be so easy." The ghost reminded.

"HELLO?!" Sheik shouted. "When are you going to explain what in Demise just happened!?" Link opened his mouth to answer only to be cut off by the sound of a very concerned Goron.

"Link and Sheik? Are you here little Hylian? Sannhetssoker?" Darunia was on the other side of the passage.

"We're here! A Dodongo set off a bomb flower and caused a cave in!" Link half lied.

"A Dodongo!? Is it still there little Hylian?!" Darunia asked.

Link looked over at Sheik, who was glaring at him. "No, I think it got squished by the cave in."

"Are you both okay?" Darunia asked. Sheik responded in Goron, to which Darunia also responded in Goron.

"Release your sword." The ghost reminded. Link jumped at the ghost's reminder and dropped his sword. Instead of clattering to the ground, the weapon disappeared. "You will have to explain to your friend what has passed on your own."

"Gee thanks." Link sighed as the ghost disappeared into his pocket.

Soon the passageway was cleared enough for the two boys to safely exit. Darunia embraced Sheik and said something to him in Goron, who responded in turn.

"Come little Hylian." Darunia led Link away from the crowd of concerned students and teachers. "Sannhetssoker said you killed the Dodongo yourself. He said you threw a bomb flower into its mouth and cut the stomach open."

"He-he must have gotten hit in the head…" Link stammered.

Darunia shook his head. "Sannhetssoker is a truth seeker from a long line of truth seekers. He does not lie." Link chewed on his lower lip. "Little Hylian, you have shown as much courage as the great Dodongo buster of legend. He also had much on his mind that he could not tell every soul. If you ever need help I will offer my assistance. Little Sannhetssoker will assist you as well." Darunia patted Link's shoulder. "The time will come when you need many friends. Make as many as you can, and make sure they are true." Darunia steered Link back to the crowd.

"Link!" Zelda caught the boy off guard with a gut squeezing hug.

"Link are you okay?" Midna pulled Link away from Zelda and looked him over. Seeing no obvious injury, she smacked his head hard. "Why'd you go off the path you idiot!"

"Midna!" Zelda protested.

"Leave him alone." Sheik sighed. Aside from some dust and being a little shaken, he seemed okay too.

"Ew what are you covered in?!" Midna noticed the monster guts all over Link.

"Oh ew!" Zelda tried to flick remaining monster guts off her shirt.

As soon as the two boys were alone in their room Sheik punched Link in the arm. "Alright, you have some explaining to do!" Link rubbed his arm and gave Sheik a hurt look. "Don't you dare. I just saw you take down a giant monster. There's no way that hurt."

"Fair enough." Link shrugged and sat down on his bed. "Where should I start?'

"Uh… The beginning?!" Sheik crossed his arms.

Link made a face in agreement. "Fair enough…" Link started from the beginning; from the ghost appearing and telling him about Zelda going missing, to his ongoing search for the temples.

"So that's why you were asking about sacred spots in the mountain." Sheik sighed. "Well?"

Link was confused. "Well what?"

"Well was that a temple? Did you purify it?"

"It wasn't a temple." Link shook his head. "And I don't know if I purified it." The two were quiet for a moment.

"My aunt might know." Sheik offered.

"No." Link stood up. "No she can't know. You can't tell anyone. Sheik this is dangerous, I can't have anyone helping you." Sheik rolled his eyes.

"How are you going to find all the temples?" He raised an eyebrow. "You aren't going to find them without my help."

"Sheik-" Link started.

"No. Link I can help you. I won't get in your way, I'll just help you figure out where to go. I won't tell anyone." The two stared at each other for a long time. "There's no way you can do this alone. Every hero had help. Well… Every successful one…"

"There were unsuccessful heroes?" Link paled. The ghost decided to make his presence known.

"You will be successful kid." The ghost said, glaring at Sheik.

"Wait is he the reason why you were asking Impa about sealing ghosts?" Sheik pointed at the ghost. "Is that why you didn't want her to come over and purify your house? I thought you had a ghost in your grandma's house not your pocket."

"To be fair he stays in my backpack most of the time." Link said.

* * *

 _Hey I had this chapter all ready to go a day EARLY. Now I'm three days late... Opps..._


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter Five** An End and a Beginning

The lecture Link received upon arriving home was sure to be more legendary than his actual quest. For almost two hours his grandma scolded him and praised the goddesses his was safe. Her ending words stuck out in his mind.

 _Link one day your luck is going to run out, and when that day comes the only one who can save you is yourself._

He shook his head to clear his mind. There were only six minutes of middle school left, and then it'd be time for summer vacation. He had agreed to help Zelda move into her new home in Castletown, and then her dorm later in the fall. He started to seriously consider her offer. Her school had scholarships, and if Zelda thought his grades were good enough…

Three minutes…

He looked over at Sheik, who had his nose stuck in a book. Sheik had offered to teach him self-defense over the summer. The ghost thought it was a good idea. And then there was marching band starting next Monday… He wondered if he'd be the only guy in the flute section again.

Two minutes…

The class started piling up in front of the door, students were tittering with talk about summer plans and high school expectations. Sheik packed his book away and leaned against Link's desk. "We're still stopping for ice cream after school right?"

Link grinned. "Yeah, I promised Aryll and if she doesn't get her ice cream she'll scold me worse than my grandma. Her, Zelda, and Midna are meeting us by the bike racks."

The bell rang and the students let out a cheer as the hurried out the door. Outside the sun seemed blinding, but the warmth was welcomed after spending the day in the meat locker temperatures of the school. Zelda and Midna weren't hard to spot, both of them sitting on their bikes.

"Your sister's gonna be a few minutes." Minda was smirking, rarely a good sign...

"Why…?" Link asked cautiously.

"Because some kids in her class did something stupid and so the teacher is holding all of them an extra five minutes." She tried to contain her laughing.

"What did they do?" Zelda asked. "Why wouldn't he keep just them?"

Midna shrugged. "I dunno, I think one of them set off a stink bomb because my teacher let our class out early due to the stink. He's a bit of a prick anyways."

Aryll came out of the building a short time later. "That IDIOT Mido decided to set off a stink bomb RIGHT UNDER the teachers desk and we all had to sit in that classroom in that stink for an extra five minutes!" She huffed.

"Ice cream let's go!" Midna took off down the sidewalk, the others following close behind.

"Mido's a moron anyways Aryll." Link shrugged. The five sat outside the ice cream shop, Midna and Zelda's bikes leaning against the side of the building. Aryll was still upset about being let out late. "Don't be so upset it was only an extra few minutes."

Aryll stuck her tongue out at him. "Do you think grandma will let me stay over at Romani's tonight?"

"You just want to get out of helping Zelda move." Link rolled his eyes. "Your answer to that is gonna be grandma's answer." Sheik and Midna howled with laughter while Zelda politely tried to hold her laughter back. Aryll turned red and smeared the remains of her ice cream on Link's shirt. "HEY!" Aryll had started to leave. "Aryll you brat!" Link took off after his sister and the others soon followed. Aryll huffed her whole way home with the four teens behind her.

"You were kind of mean." Zelda pointed out.

"But totally hilarious." Midna grinned.

"Just wait out here." Link sighed and followed his sister inside his house. "Aryll if you keep pouting grandma's not gonna let you sleep over at Romani's."

"You didn't need to be so mean!" She shouted and slammed her door. Link rolled his eyes and went to his room to change his shirt.

"I'm helping Zelda move today and tomorrow. Don't lecture me about the temples. Please!" He said to the ghost. "Please just stay here and don't scare my grandma."

"The longer you wait the hard your quest will be." The ghost reminded.

"I'll deal with it then." Link left the ghost and hurried back down to his friends. "Let's go."

"Is Aryll gonna be okay?" Zelda asked.

"Yeah she's just pouty." Link sighed. He looked around to find Midna and Sheik had disappeared. "Hey where'd they go?!"

"I told them to just go home. I'm all packed up anyways." Zelda looked at her feet. "Can we go to the woods? I wanna talk." Link nodded. The two walked to the edge of town where the woods began.

"You remember the stories my grandma used to tell us?" Link asked as the stood at the edge. Zelda shook her head no. "About the people who got lost in the forest?"

"That's just an old legend Link." Zelda shook her head.

"I fished you out of a tree and you watched me kill a giant Ghoma like two months ago!" Link ran a hand through his hair.

"Link that was just a nightmare you had." Zelda entered the forest and Link followed close behind. "You take your grandma's stories too seriously."

"You used to love her stories. You'd race me home so we could listen to her stories about the heroes." Link brushed a branch away. This path seemed familiar…

"When we were little kids. We're entering high school." She pushed further down the path. Sunlight filtered through the leaves, bathing everything in a green glow.

"We're still technically kids Zelda." Maybe it was just him, but the forest seemed alive. At least, more alive than the last time he'd been in the forest.

"Not for long. Soon we'll be graduating high school and then going off to college. Then we'll be graduating college and getting jobs and getting married and having kids." She rambled.

Wait. Did his mishear her? They'd be getting married?

"Woah." The two entered a clearing. Link's stomach dropped at the sight of the deku tree. "It's giant." Link stayed at the edge of the clearing while Zelda went forward to examine the tree. She looked up at the branches. "There's something up there." She pointed up at the branches. Link looked up to where she was pointing. There was a bag tied to a branch. "You're a better climber. I'll give you a boost." Link sighed and stepped forward. She laced her fingers together to give him a step.

"Are you sure you can lift me?" Link gave her a funny look.

"I've lifted books heavier than you Deku Scrub." She teased. "Come on! Let's find out what it is!" Link shook his head. He put his hands on her shoulders and a foot on her hands.

"Ready?" He asked. She nodded and leaned against the tree for support. "Alright." Link pushed up and reached for a low branch. He pulled himself up and looked up at the bag. "Zelda I hope you have a plan for getting me down because this is really high up."

"Scared of heights or something?" She teased. Link blew a raspberry at her and continued to climb. The bag was finally at reach. Link steadied himself on the branch and reached up. The branch creaked ominously… His eyes widened. Link jumped as the branch broke and grabbed the bag, but no branch. He heard Zelda cry out his name. All the wind was knocked out of him as he landed on the ground.

"Link are you okay!?" Zelda was leaning over him. With a groan he sat up.

"That's one way of coming down I guess…" He rubbed the back of his head.

"Are you hurt? Did you break anything?" She gently touched his arm.

"I think I'll be okay." The bag was in his lap. "I hope this was worth it Zelda." She took the bag and dumped the contents into his lap.

"Broken stones?" She furrowed her brow and examined a piece. Link looked at one, it seemed to match Zelda's.

"Here, try fitting these two together." With a flash of light the two pieces came together.

"Weird." Zelda examined the full stone.

"Zelda was that chest there before?" Link pointed to a treasure chest at the end of one of the trees roots.

"Maybe." Zelda went to the chest and opened it. "There's twenty rupees inside it! But who would leave money in a chest out in the open?"

Link looked at the stones in his lap and gasped. "Zelda they're Kinstones! They bring good luck when you fuse them together!"

"Link maybe I should take you to a doctor. I think you hit your head." Zelda said. Link stuffed Kinstones back in the pouch and put the pouch in his pockets. "I'll help you up." She slung one of his arms over her shoulders and helped him to his feet.

"We should get out of here anyways, the sun's starting to set." Link said. The two friends shuffled back to town. "Don't say anything about me falling out of a tree. After the field trip…"

"You never said what happened on the field trip anyways." She prodded. Link stayed silent. "If you don't want to talk about it then fine. But ever since I came back you seem different. You spaced out in class all the time and you keep going on and on about old fairy tales and legends." He chewed on his lower lip rather than respond. "I'm sorry. I didn't want my last day here with you to be like this."

"What do you mean?" Link asked. "I think this day's been going just fine, I mean we got ice cream!" He tried to lighten her mood.

"Link." She laughed. "You think with your stomach. I'm over here worrying about you and the only thing wrong with you is that you're hungry!"

Link laughed sheepishly. Sure, let her think he was just hungry. "Caught me." They stopped in front of Tetra's place.

"Link. Promise me you'll visit over the summer?" She asked.

"Of course!" He smiled. "We share the same birthday anyways!" The two stood there for a moment. This was their last day together, she was moving tomorrow… This may be his last chance to tell her…

"I should get going… Tetra and her crew have a goodbye dinner planned." Zelda pulled Link's arm off her. "Will you be okay going home by yourself?"

"Ordon's small Zelda. I'll be fine." He scratched the back of his neck. Suddenly he felt her plant a kiss on his cheek. He froze and felt his face turn red. Zelda had darted inside already.

"Hey!" A tiny voice jolted him back to reality. "Hey!" The voice came in the direction of Zelda's little garden. "Over here!" Link knelt down and examined the garden. There was a small person, no bigger than his thumb and dressed in green looking up at him. "You found my Kinstone pouch right!?"

"This?" Link reached into his pocket and pulled out the pouch.

"That's it!"

Link set the pouch next to the small person. "You're a Picori right?"

The person shook his head. "I'm the spirit of the Hero of the Minish."

"The Hero of Minish? So you're a descendent of the first hero?" Link asked.

"I suppose. Hold out your hand." Link set his hand down next to the small spirit and the former hero climbed up. Link raised his hand to look at the spirit closer.

"Are you gonna lecture me about my quest too?" Link eyed the spirit suspiciously.

The hero shook his head no. "A warning. Tell her everything."

Zelda? Or someone else? Link frowned. "Which her?"

"The princess. The longer you keep her sheltered the more danger she'll be in."

"But if I tell her she'll be in danger as well!"

The spirit shook his head again. "She'll be endangered either way. If you tell her though, she may be able to awaken the sleeping power within her."

"Won't that put her in more danger?" Link asked.

"Yes, but she will also be able to protect herself. The more you try to separate her from your quest the easier it'll be for him to find her."

"Him who?" He frowned.

"The power hungry one. Cursed by the demon king." The spirit began to fade into the wind. "Put my Kinstone bag at my grave will ya?"

"Wait! Who are you talking about? What demon king curse? Where's your grave?" Link was left with even more questions than before. Would he encounter more spirits of the heroes? How was he going to awaken Zelda's power?

Knowing he'd get no answers anytime soon Link pocketed the Kinstone bag and headed home.

* * *

 _Sorry! Life got crazy!_


	6. Chapter 6

p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"strong style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"Chapter 6 /strongHow Do You Spell Backfired? (With Letters)/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;" /p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Bye Grandma!" Link rushed out the door and hurried to the forest. Today was the day he and Sheik were going to purify the Forest Temple. Well, he was going to purify the Forest Temple. Sheik had been researching the temple and had found a way in./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"The two met at the edge of the forest. "Ready?" Sheik asked him./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""No. Let's go." Link entered the forest, Sheik following close behind. The two stopped in front of the ruins of the mansion. "Am I gonna be safe in there? It got condemned last year and even when the high school used it as a haunted house it was really sketchy being in there."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""It's really sketchy because it's haunted by the Poe sisters." Sheik said. "It got condemned because the stairs collapsed last year, they didn't want anyone being able to sue because they were being stupid trying to get in."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Like we're about to be?" Link raised an eye brow. Sheik grinned in return./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""The Poe sisters were quite clever in their time." The ghost said. "They were skilled in illusions, but illness took the third sister Beth and the other three were never the same."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"Sheik nodded. "They were a wealthy family in the area and their father went off to fight in one of the civil wars. Their money ran out and they began to perform magic for pay. They weren't naturally skilled though and made deals with a demon. This took a toll on their mind and the magic began to twist them. Eventually Beth fell ill and died and the other three followed soon after. Their father never made it home from the war. During the era of the Hero of Time this was supposedly the Forest Temple."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""You know your history." The ghost complimented./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Thank you." Sheik ruffled around in his back pack. "So the Hero of Time entered the temple using something called a hookshot. It was a spring loaded tool but no one's quite sure how to recreate it. So, we're gonna go with an even older method." He pulled out a length of rope with a hook at the end. "Grappling hook!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"Link resisted the urge to roll his eyes. "Did you build that yourself?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Yup." Sheik held the grappling hook out. With a sigh Link took the contraption./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""If I die because of this thing just know you'll be the reason why Hyrule falls to ruin." Link swung the grappling hook./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Far enough." Sheik shrugged. "But you're not gonna die from this fall."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"Link let the hook fly and it wrapped around a stone pillar. He gave an experimental tug and sighed. "Oh I hope this holds…" With a grunt Link began to climb the rope. His heart raced as he thought of a million ways he could fall. The stone could crack, the hook could give out, oh… He was at the top already…/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Alright!" Sheik punched the air in triumph. "I'll be right there."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Sheik I don't know if that's a good idea."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""What?!" His face fell. "Why not?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""If you get hurt-"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Link I know what I'm getting into." Sheik began to climb the rope. "You're forgetting who's teaching you how to fight."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""A ghost has been teaching me." Link crossed his arms./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Your friend might be of valuable assistance." The ghost mused./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""What?! I thought I had to go this alone!" Link countered. "You said that yourself!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""You alone can purify the temples and bring back magic." The ghost agreed. "But your friend is offering his assistance and he is capable. As long as he is willing to help you should use that help." Link chewed on his lower lip. By that time Sheik had reached the top and unhooked the grappling hook./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Let's go." Sheik slung the rope over his shoulder and entered the mansion. With a sigh Link followed. The two crossed the interior courtyard and entered the main room of the mansion. Link surveyed the room, it was large and dark save for four torches around a hollow pillar in the center of the room. The two exchanged a glance and walked toward the torches. Suddenly a dark cackling filled the room. Four poes appeared and stole the flames from the torches and the disappeared as quickly as they came. The hollow pillar sank into the floor./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""I don't suppose you have some matches?" Link tried./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""I do but I doubt that'll work." Sheik chuckled. "Do we want to split up or stay together?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Have you never seen a horror film? We are sticking together man!" Link's eyes widened./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Aren't you supposed to be the bearer of courage?" Sheik laughed./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Shaddup." Link rolled his eyes./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Until you prove yourself to Farore you will not receive her blessing." The ghost said./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Thanks ghost!" Link was seething. "Pick a door metal mouth."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"Sheik was busy laying on the ground laughing. "I'm about to join the Poe sisters in the afterlife. That was the sickest burn I've ever heard."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""I did not burn him I merely stated a truthful fact." The ghost furrowed his brow./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""I'm going forward." Link huffed. Wasn't he Farore's chosen hero? Didn't he just naturally have her blessing? Whatever the ghost had embarrassed him and Sheik was laughing at him. He'd prove to Farore that he was deserving of her blessing. He entered another hall to find a floating skull surrounded by blue clouds./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Don't touch that." Sheik said./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""I wasn't planning on it…" Link drew his sword./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""No!" Sheik grabbed Link's arm. "You can't touch it with your sword either. You've gotta stop the blue stuff from surrounding it."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Okay how do I do that?" Link sighed. Sheik shrugged. Link rolled his eyes and sheathed his sword. He watched the bubble bounce around the hall. "Now!" He darted down the hall, Sheik following close behind. The bubble brushed close to Link's right shoulder. An icy cold gripped his right side. He threw open the door with his left hand and closed it as soon as Sheik had passed the door way. "Yeaow!" He clutched his shoulder and leaned against the wall, sinking to the ground. "That hurt! It barely touched me!?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Link!" Sheik pointed to the center of the room. Two skeletal warriors appeared. The skeletons quickly approached the two boys, swinging their swords down. Sheik dove to the left while Link rolled right. Link scrambled to his feet and dropped his bag. He drew his sword and eyed the skeletons. He swung at one only to be blocked by the skeleton's sword. The impact reverbed through his whole body. "Link close your eyes!" Link backed against the wall and closed his eyes. There was a flash of light. Link opened his eyes to see the skeletons frozen. "Quick!"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"Link swung at one of the skeletons spines, breaking it in half. The skeleton faded into smoke. The other skeleton had unfroze and swung at Link, cutting across his back. He cried out and fell to the ground, his sword clattering on the ground./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Link!" Sheik dove forward and grabbed Link's sword. He turned quickly and blocked the attack from the skeleton. Sheik pushed the skeleton off and jabbed at its spine, severing it in half. The skeleton disappeared much like the first had. Sheik dropped to Link's side. "Link!? Link!" He couldn't tell how deep the cut was. "Link stay awake!" His head whipped around looking for the ghost. "Where are you!?" He shouted. "Ghost guy where are you!?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Here." The ghost floated through the door. "I couldn't enter the room until it was cleared."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Link's hurt! What do we do?" Sheik's was panicking. What…. What happened if the hero died? Would evil rule the land? Was Hyrule going to be cast into darkness?/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""There's a fairy fountain nearby. In the hedge maze we passed. There should be a container in his bag." The ghost floated in front of style="mso-spacerun: yes;" /span"Link stay awake. You'll be okay." Sheik rummaged through Link's nag and found his water bottle./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""This work?" He held the bottle up. The ghost nodded. Sheik dumped the water out and darted out of the room./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""This is my fault I should have prepared you better." The ghost said. "I thought that monsters couldn't be here since I purified this place last. Link groaned./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Huuurrts." The ghost grimaced. "Sl-sleepy."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""If you sleep now you will never awake. Darkness will consume this land and she will die."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""N-no." He groaned. He pressed his palms to the ground and pushed. His arms shook under his weight, but he managed to push himself up. "Not today." His breathing was heavy. "Not dying today." Link swore he saw the ghost smile./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Good."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"Sheik returned panting and clutching Link's water bottle. As soon as he entered the room he opened the bottle. A pink orb flew out of the bottle and towards Link. Instantly he felt relief as the fairy worked her magic. "Better?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Yeah…" Link leaned against the wall. How close had he come to dying? Was this going to become a normal part of his life?/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Why couldn't you come in the room earlier?" Sheik asked the old hero./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""There was a barrier. Perhaps something to stop the dead from entering or leaving."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Okay but those skeletons?" Link asked. "They were just there?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Stalfoes." Sheik corrected. "But they must have been in the room before."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Is this part of the quest?" Link raised an eyebrow. "Do I have to help the dead move on?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""I don't know." The ghost said. "You're the first hero to be accompanied by another."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""We should go home Link." Sheik said. "Regroup, come up with a strategy. Maybe train."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""What? But we're already here?" Link frowned. "We should keep going."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""I'm pretty sure you nearly died…" Sheik pointed out. "We thought the temple would be mostly empty but it's not. We didn't expect monsters and ghosts."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""This place was haunted before we got here." Link countered. "It was a haunted house."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""The absence of people have allowed the monsters to retake this place." The ghost said./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Link let's go home. I'll look through some of my aunt's books and see if I can find anything. You should spend some time learning how to use your sword." Sheik grabbed Link's bag./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""I put the pointy end in the bad guy what else is there to learn?" Link was being sarcastic, but the ghost didn't seem to catch on./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""A sword wields no strength unless the hand that holds it has courage." The ghost chided. Link sighed. Maybe it was for the best./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Fine. We'll come back later." Link conceded. Sheik held out his hand and pulled Link to his feet. The two walked out of the temple with Link leaning on Sheik./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""You'll need a red potion and plenty of bed rest." The ghost said./p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"Link raised an eye brow. "Red potion?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Pain killers. Take some pain killers and get some sleep." Sheik said. "Your place or mine?"/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;""Your place." Link felt exhausted. His back hurt and he felt like it would split open at any moment. "I wanna sleep, not worry Grandma."/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"_br /emOkay its only been less than a year. I don't have internet at my new place so I haven't been able to up date. I've got stuff written, but no consistent way to upload. So I'm sorry that it's taking so long to update. I do have a plan and a flexible outline for this story and I will post a chapter every chance I get, but I have no internet and I am getting married later this year AND making cosplays for friends./em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"emI also finally got breath of the wild, though that content isn't planned until much later in the story. It's such a pretty game holy smokes.../em/p  
p class="MsoNormal" style="tab-stops: 135.75pt;"emIf you really want me to update faster ya gotta review. You can also check out my Zelda tumblr chosen-zero-of-the-goddess where I occasionally post cosplay photos, my art, and some writing snippets, but mostly gush about the AMAZING fan art I come across./em/p 


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